Sharapova loses, Nadal advances at Australian Open

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Maria Sharapova hasn’t won a tournament since 2017, and her ranking slipped to 136th by the end of last year.

After a 6-3, 6-4 loss to 19th-seeded Donna Vekic at the Australian Open on Tuesday, former No. 1-ranked Sharapova is now on a run of three first-round exits at Grand Slam events.

T op-ranked Rafael Nadal had no such issues in the following match at Rod Laver Arena, easily beating Hugo Dellien 6-2, 6-3, 6-0.

“A positive start,” Nadal said. “What you want in the first round is to win – straight sets is better.”

Only one of Nadal’s 19 Grand Slam singles titles have come at the Australian Open – in 2009- and he lost last year’s final to Novak Djokovic. He’s aiming to to that around and win next week to equal Roger Federer’s men’s record of 20 major titles.

No. 5 Dominic Thiem and No. 16 Karen Khachanov were among the other highly-ranked men to advance to the second round.

Sharapova, a five-time major winner, got into the main draw at Melbourne Park via a wild card granted by organizers, helped by the fact she won the 2008 title here. Drawing Vekic in the first round was tough.

The 32-year-old Russian has had a series of right shoulder injuries and also served a 15-month suspension for a positive doping test to meldonium. Since her return from the suspension, her best showing at a major has been the quarterfinals at the 2018 French Open.

She wasn’t making any excuses.

“I mean, I think I’m not the only one – I can speak about my struggles and the things that I’ve gone through with my shoulder, but it’s not really in my character to,” Sharapova said.

Second-seeded Karolina Pliskova beat Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 7-5, sixth-seeded Belinda Bencic advanced 6-3, 7-5 over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and 10th-seeded Madison Keys beat Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1.

Johanna Konta, a 2016 Australian Open semifinalist, lost her first-round match to Ons Jabeur 6-4, 6-2. It was only her second match since she lost in the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Open because of a tendinitis-related problem in her right knee.

The 12th-seeded Konta lost in the first round at the Brisbane International and then withdrew from the Adelaide International in an attempt to manage her injury. Even before she left for Australia, the British No. 1 told officials she wouldn’t play Fed Cup this year.

Konta had always made at least the second round in four previous appearances in the main draw here. Still, she was upbeat after the loss.

“I think ultimately the main thing was to start playing again, and I am,” she said. “And how I physically felt out there is obviously a massive tick for me compared to where I was in September of last year. Before Brisbane, I had been out for almost 4-1/2 months. So it’s been quite a bit of time, not far off getting a protected ranking.”

After torrential rain hit Melbourne Park on Day 1, organizers had to move dozens of matches over to Tuesday.

Among those, 18-year-old Jannik Sinner completed a 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-4 win over Australian qualifier Max Purcell, and 2018 Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic beat Corentin Moutet 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

No. 12-seeded Fabio Fognini lost the first two sets Monday against Reilly Opelka but rallied Tuesday to win 3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3 7-6 (5), including the 10-point tiebreaker in the final set. Milos Raonic returned to play two games to finish off Lorenzo Giustino 6-2, 6-1, 6-3.

Sinner, the Next Gen ATP Finals champion, only had to win two games on Day 2 to complete his first match win at a Grand Slam event.

“I was up in the score, so it was a little bit easier for me,” Sinner said of the suspension. “Obviously I wanted to finish yesterday. We waited here till 8 p.m., so it’s been a long day yesterday for me, for every player.”

Daniil Medvedev advances to Miami Open final

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Daniil Medvedev hasn’t won a title in the U.S. since capturing the 2021 U.S. Open, when he turned away Novak Djokovic’s bid for a Grand Slam.

Now the Miami Open’s No. 4 seed is one victory from a fresh American title, beating fellow Russian Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in the semifinals Friday, the same day Wimbledon announced Russians will be allowed back – with conditions.

The other men’s semifinal is Friday night between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannick Sinner. If Alcaraz wins, it’ll set up a rematch of the Indian Wells final; Alcaraz beat Medvedev 6-3, 6-2 on March 19.

Medvedev has won 23 of his last 24 matches – the lone loss to now-world No. 1 Alcaraz – and is in his fifth straight final.

Medvedev has been friends with the 14th-seeded Khachanov since childhood, and they’re each fierce baseliners, with one rally lasting 31 shots.

Medvedev needed a tiebreaker to win the first set, serving it out with the first of 13 aces in the match. Proving a little more consistent in the second set, Khachanov forced a third by breaking Medvedev’s serve early to go up 2-0.

But Medvedev owned the third, surviving an early breakpoint when Khachanov hit a loose backhand into the doubles alley for a rare unforced error.

Medvedev broke Khachanov in the next game to go up 3-1 and a won a wondrous 26-shot rally on match point. Khachanov picked up a drop shot, then retrieved a shot from the baseline between the legs before his friend put away the winner.

Also Friday, No. 15-seed Petra Kvitova and unseeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea were playing to decide who’ll take on Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s women singles final. Rybakina, who has won 13 straight matches, including the Indian Wells title, beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets in a rain-delayed match that ended close to midnight.

Alcaraz turns away Fritz to reach semifinals in Miami

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The hopes of American men’s tennis rest largely on the talented rackets of Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.

But a Spanish roadblock named Carlos Alcaraz is in the way – never more illustrated by the last few days at the Miami Open.

Two days after routing the Australian Open semifinalist Paul, the top-ranked Alcaraz took his spectacular arsenal to the highest-ranked American man in No. 10 Fritz and blasted into the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory at Hard Rock Stadium.

Before a packed crowd that included John McEnroe and was split in support, Alcaraz broke Fritz’s serve in the first game. He used that one break to squeak out the first set and finished the match in tidy 1 hour, 18 minutes. Alcaraz faced just two break points and turned away both chances as he improved his match record to 18-1 in 2023.

“I took the opportunity of every break point I had,” the Spaniard said. “I was solid and aggressive at the same time.”

This was the first meeting between the two and an opportunity for Fritz to assess how close he is to a breakthrough. The match was postponed Wednesday night, only delaying the inevitable.

“Obviously playing the best player in the world, you can’t just drop your serve to start both sets,” Fritz said. “He doesn’t give you much for free. … All the important points in the match, he won.”

The 19-year-old Alcaraz proved too tough in Miami against two Americans who reside in South Florida. Fritz moved recently to Miami and Paul has lived in the Delray Beach/Boca Raton area for years.

Alcaraz will play Jannik Sinner in Friday’s semifinals, a rematch of their semifinal at Indian Wells, where Alcaraz went on to win the title.

The reigning U.S. Open champion and defending Miami Open champion boasts a glorious drop shot, beautifully controlled groundstrokes and a sneaky net game. Alcaraz’s graceful court coverage is reminiscent of his countryman Rafael Nadal. There are no clear weaknesses, as Fritz found out.

Fritz had one moment to seize, gaining a break point against Alcaraz trailing 2-3, trying to get back on serve. Alcaraz saved the break point in fantastic fashion. Fritz initially made a lovely pop-up retrieve of a would-be winner, but Alcaraz boldly took a chance moments later, rushing to the net to convert a difficult low volley winner.

In an earlier quarterfinal of extreme height, No. 5 Daniil Medvedev ended the career-best run of 6-foot-7 American qualifier Chris Eubanks with a 6-3, 7-5 victory.

For all his accomplishments, the 6-6 Medvedev, who has won 22 of his last 23 matches, had never made the Miami Open semifinals.

It sets up an all-Russian semifinal Friday as he faces Karen Khachanov, who beat Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2. Medvedev holds a 3-1 career advantage against his longtime friend.

“We are from the same age group,” Medvedev said. “I’m almost sure we know how the match is going to go and it’s a question of who’s going to make the best shot.”

Medvedev, who lost to Alcaraz in the final at Indian Wells, has garnered three ATP titles this year (Rotterdam, Doha and Dubai).

Eubanks, a 26-year-old former Georgia Tech star ranked 102nd, had never advanced to a quarterfinal of an ATP event of this level and had actor Jamie Foxx in the stands cheering him on.

“It’s been a dream week for me,” Eubanks said, noting Foxx has followed his career for “the past couple of years.”

Eubanks was on serve with Medvedev early, leading 3-2 before a brief rain delay. Medvedev came back roaring to win the next four games to close out the set. Eubanks said Medvedev made a “tactical change” after the delay, moving in on his second serve.

The other women’s semifinal was finally set with 15th seed Petra Kvitova advancing to face unseeded, 74th-ranked Sorana Cirstea, who beat Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday.

In a quarterfinal postponed by Wednesday night’s rain, Kvitova defeated No. 18 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Shaking off a rash of double faults in the second, Kvitova prevailed in the third, but she could be at a competitive disadvantage without a day of rest facing Cirstea. Neither Kvitova nor Cirstea will have an extra day to prepare for Saturday’s final.

The other semifinal had already been set with Elena Rybakina facing Jessica Pegula Thursday night in a battle of top-10 stalwarts.